Your editorial "Doc's Orders" (Page B11, Monday) applauds the recommendation that doctors become more aggressive in pressuring their obese patients to lose weight. One problem: It will not work.

Fat people will not be hectored, harassed or shamed into losing weight. Ridicule and contempt will not work either.

What about making overweight people pay higher health insurance premiums, as tobacco users often do? This won't work either.

Sky-high cigarette prices don't make poor people stop smoking. Smokers just take money away from other things. Similarly, if you put the squeeze on fat people, they will just cancel their gym memberships and use the saved gym dues to buy more Blue Bell.

What will work? Probably nothing. Still, anyone who visits France is struck by the fact that they see far fewer obese people than in the U.S. Why? The French have all the modern transportation and labor-saving conveniences we do, and French culture is just as obsessed with food as American culture. However, it is a different kind of obsession; it is an obsession with quality not quantity.

In France, meals are a time to sit and savor not squat and gobble. Each meal is a leisurely celebration to be enjoyed with friends or family, not something to be stuffed in between appointments or in front of the TV. Maybe the solution is not to value food less, but to learn to enjoy it more.

Regarding "Obamas, Clintons to visit JFK grave" (Page A12, Sunday), on Nov. 22, 1963, I was a senior at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I had moved from my sorority house to an apartment, but when I was on campus, I ate my lunches at the sorority house. When I arrived, the television was on so we could hear the news of the day, including the Dallas motorcade with JFK.

We were stunned when it was announced that JFK had been shot. "Stunned" is a mild description of how I felt. I was too young to vote in 1960 and would not have voted for him, but I could not believe that the 20-year curse had continued when I heard he had died. Presidents elected every 20 years, at least from 1840-1960, had died in office. Before long, by phone and notices, we found out that all afternoon and Saturday classes had been cancelled. My coming of age at 21 was marked by this event.

I want our city to be known as a friendly and great place, but it saddens me to see that we have evolved into worse than just "fair weather" fans.

I agree that we are not playing well, we need change and seem snakebit, but being disrespectful, rude and downright vulgar is not the answer.

I was so embarrassed at the fan behavior and boos at Sunday's game that it literally made me ill. I don't want our city's fans to be known as unsupportive, rude and heartless. Other teams lose and worse than we do, but their fans remain proud and supportive no matter what.